Monthly Archives: November 2011

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Two big comebacks and another that nearly went all the way back. Two prolific passing games bounced. Three if you count Franklin. Some stout run defense. And a family connection coming up.

Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan talk about all eight second-round games and the four upcoming quarterfinals, but give special attention to Wabash-North Central, Wesley-Linfield and Kean-Salisbury in this week’s Around the Nation podcast.

It’s a lot easier to get nominated as a tackle or defensive end than a guard or defensive tackle.
UMHB athletics photo

It’s All-Region time again. Our voters will be looking at the nominations this week, but at the moment, there are 745 nominations for the 300 spots.

Typically schools’ nominations favor the glamorous positions, and tend to neglect some of the unsung. If you think it’s hard for an offensive lineman to get recognition, it’s even worse being a guard. For the moment, we only have 32 nominations for the four guard positions. We’ll name 24 kids to the All-Region team at guard.

The most competitive positions

Award

Spots

Nominees

All-South Quarterback

3

16

All-East Quarterback

3

14

All-West Quarterback

3

13

All-East Linebackers

9

37

All-East Kicker

3

12

All-South Center

3

12

All-South Running Back

6

23

All-South Safety

6

22

All-East Wide Receiver

6

21

All-East Center

3

10

Everyone wants to nominate a quarterback. It’s almost always the most competitive position. In the South, there were more than five nominees for every available slot.

Then, there’s the other end. We found in the past that taking nominations solely for “defensive linemen” meant we only got nominations for defensive ends. “Offensive linemen” only got us centers and tackles. And we couldn’t recognize positions that weren’t nominated.

The least competitive positions

Award

Spots

Nominees

All-North Safety

6

9

All-West Safety

6

9

All-North Guard

6

7

All-South Defensive Tackle

6

7

All-South Guard

6

7

All-West Guard

6

7

All-West Defensive Tackle

6

6

We’ll be sending a more detailed list on who has been nominated to each of the conferences for follow-up.